Sturgis, SD, 2006, WOW!!
Way back in 1951 a.d. when I was riding my first Hog, I never dreamed that someday I would be riding(for the third time) to the largest motorcycle(mostly Harley's, probably 98%)rally in the world. With over 500,000 bikes this is a wonder to see and participate in. My Hog back in the old days was not what I ride now and the only resemblance is that it was black and loud, beyond that it weighed probably 300 pounds less than the current day Heritage and sure didn't look as good. But it was a good experience and guided me into my love for riding the ironhorse. The decision to ride to Sturgis for me is based on the love to ride, so trailering to South Dakota as some do is not an option for me. But what I did do this year is make a deal with Steve Locke to meet me there. He would be coming from the North(North Dakota, 600 miles from Sturgis) and I would be coming from the South(approximately 950 miles(. This was going to be interesting since Steve and I had taken some other trips together, i.e. St. Peterburg Russia, for the Triathlon Goodwill Games, and the famous Inidanapolis 500 race, both in 1994. So, this would give us a unique time to ride and enjoy the beauty of the Black Hills and see the wonders of this famous motrorcycle rally. To think it was started in 1938 with the idea from some local motorcycle riders to just "get together at Sturgis," is totally amazing. Now this town of 6600 people goes from a small quiet burg to a loud, busy, metropolis, overnight.
After arriving in Deadwood(yes the famous Deadwood from the TV series),SD,with no prostitutes that we knew of) we checked into our hotel and started preparing to ride the rally trails. Our hotel of choice is the Cedar Wood Inn, a small family owned, Gordon & Audrey Mack are the owners, establishment described by me as an oasis in this legendary town. This is my third year to stay here and it is like going home. The accomodations are perfect and the location is the same. Whether it be the simple act of sitting out in front watching the motorcycles go by or sipping coffee and eating the rolls in the early morning, it is just a delight to stay here.
The first day of riding has to take you to the downtown street of Sturgis. With thousands of motorcycles parked on this main street, with one lane up and back it is a marvel to see. Plus the testosterone level would make Landis look like a school boy. It is flowing through the streets and soaking through the leather so bad you can hardly keep your bike up. But, that is what the ironhorse is all about. Slap some slick, black leather on a two day old bearded bank president, sitting on top of one of these 800 pound Hogs and you have an exciting sight of real toughness. He will sip a few suds and roar the engines to the point the one percenters(early bad boys of motorcycle riding)will walk away in in sheer horror that they might get run over. Upon entering the very busy and loud bar on the corner(can't remember the name of it, but most bars in Sturgis are called something like Gear Driven Delight, or Spoked Delight, or Tank UP, or Full Throttle) we ordered our first and only suds for the day(well nearly the only one)and took in the music and sights. You ask, sights inside a bar? Good question but it can only be answered by saying that some well endowed women in Sturgis use body paint instead of clothing on the top portion of their bodies. So, one of these loose womean were sitting at the bar all dressed out in her upper body paint. Obviously she demanded lots of attention and seemed to be enjoying it. While she wasn't the only woman in the bar, she was the only woman in the bar that had gone to the local paint shop for her body cover. Needless to say we all enjoyed the sights(two really big ones) and even though we didn't have a camera many were having their photos made with this popular woman. From this local establishment we traveled out 4 or 5 miles to the "Full Throttle" biker bar and hell raiser point of fun and relaxation. Please remember that this is what you do when you ride motorcycles, you ride to some place so you can turn around and ride back to where you came from. There is no purpose really of going where you are going or coming back from where you have been other than to just "ride baby ride." Upon entering the Full Throttle parking area it was apparent there had been an overflow of testosterone and it was hard to get the bikes parked and make our space. But, after getting this done I looked around and felt I was in a Mad Max movie. The bar is built in kind of an outdoor arena layout with the motorcycles parked in the middle. Then the bars, stage for the band, vendors, etc.,are in an elevated position,in a circle around the parked machines. With great rock music and cold brews it was a sight to behold. At one point we heard this loud roar of two motorcycles and the screeching of tires against the pavement, then yelling and clapping in approval of what was going on. After investigation what we found what is called the "burn out" area, for two motorcycles. What got our attention was when we heard the loud bang of a blowout on both the motorcyle rear tires, then everyone cheering! What kind of insanity was this, destroying your rear tires and then getting applauded for it? After asking one of the "event staff" what was going on, he said,"hey man this is Sturgis, anything goes!" He further stated that you could bring your motorcyle into this area, butt your front wheel up to the head wall, then spin out on the pavement to your hearts delight, and never get pulled over by the police or harassed in anyway. This was legal tender inside the confines of the "Full Throttle" and baby move over. I encouraged Steve to pull his new, black, machine into the pit and show us his stuff. He refused to do it on the grounds he didn't think destroying $180.00 tires was much sport. When challenged to do it I agreed with him. Now we got back on the machines and headed back, remember you go somewhere with little purpose, but you have to return, to Deadwood.
On day two, we decided to ride West to Hulett, WY(about 45 miles)and take in "No Panties Wednesday," and see just exactly what that meant. Now I realize that this is somewhat contridictory since I have said, more than once, that you ride with little purpose or reason other than to "just ride baby ride." But give me a break here, "No Panties Wednesday?" Who could resist this tempting sounding day of activity, with the men and women of steel? On the way we went through Beulah, WY population 50, then made a pit stop in Aladdin, WY, population 15(please understand I give these populations because I am a population inquisitive type person, I like to know the population of the towns or cities I go to. That is the first thing I ask someone when I travel to different places. I do not care about the elevation, which is now placed on many city limit signs, I want to know how many people live there). So, with that being said we now headed to Hulett, WY, population 400 normally but on this Wednesday it would swell to 30,000 with over a $1 million in economic impact. But, with the billing "No Panties Wednesday" why wouldn't it swell and be popular? What we found when we got there was lots of motorcyles already, lots of vendors selling T-Shirts and things, lots of greasy food, a band actually playing on a stage set up on the church front yard,(how bad could they be?) etc. But inquiring minds are now wondering, what about the "No Panties Wednesday?"(your could even buy bikini panties with "No Panties Wednesday" written on them(got mine on right now as I write). Well boy did they fool us! As far as we know everyone in town that day didn't have any panties on, since everyone we saw was wearing jeans and how could you really tell? No one was walking around like the painted ladies with painted panties on, or if they were we wouldn't know it because everyone we saw were fully dressed. So, the joke was on us, and after enjoying the sights of the town(the painted ladies did arrive on two Hogs before we left so that was interesting except we still didn't know if they had on panties or not)we mounted the ironhorses and left town, as the population started to really grow. It is possible that after it got dark around this sleepy little town town it because possible to know if Wednesday was really "No Panties Wednesday!!"
After nearly 3 days of this madness it is now time to ride and ride far, Steve departed back to the North country and I headed West, to Colorado. Now, it is just pure riding and no side tracks. I ended up in the Vail, CO area and spent some time there riding to and from nowhere. It was very beautiful riding and then on day 7 it was time to girt up and hit the road big time back to Ransom Canyon. The trip to Ransom from Vail is around 700 miles so I decided to make it in one day. I was tired of the hotels and needed to dust it out. Because of early morning rain I left about 9:30 a.m. Mountain time, headed to Denver, then Colorado Springs, then hit lots of rain in Walsburg, CO, that stayed with me for 300 miles. Finally when hitting Dumas, TX I could take my rain suit off. I pulled into the driveway at Ransom at 9:30 p.m. Central time and felt great. I accomplished what I wanted to do, ride somewhere for no real reason and turn around and come back, again just to "ride baby ride."
Is this nuts or what?
greer
After arriving in Deadwood(yes the famous Deadwood from the TV series),SD,with no prostitutes that we knew of) we checked into our hotel and started preparing to ride the rally trails. Our hotel of choice is the Cedar Wood Inn, a small family owned, Gordon & Audrey Mack are the owners, establishment described by me as an oasis in this legendary town. This is my third year to stay here and it is like going home. The accomodations are perfect and the location is the same. Whether it be the simple act of sitting out in front watching the motorcycles go by or sipping coffee and eating the rolls in the early morning, it is just a delight to stay here.
The first day of riding has to take you to the downtown street of Sturgis. With thousands of motorcycles parked on this main street, with one lane up and back it is a marvel to see. Plus the testosterone level would make Landis look like a school boy. It is flowing through the streets and soaking through the leather so bad you can hardly keep your bike up. But, that is what the ironhorse is all about. Slap some slick, black leather on a two day old bearded bank president, sitting on top of one of these 800 pound Hogs and you have an exciting sight of real toughness. He will sip a few suds and roar the engines to the point the one percenters(early bad boys of motorcycle riding)will walk away in in sheer horror that they might get run over. Upon entering the very busy and loud bar on the corner(can't remember the name of it, but most bars in Sturgis are called something like Gear Driven Delight, or Spoked Delight, or Tank UP, or Full Throttle) we ordered our first and only suds for the day(well nearly the only one)and took in the music and sights. You ask, sights inside a bar? Good question but it can only be answered by saying that some well endowed women in Sturgis use body paint instead of clothing on the top portion of their bodies. So, one of these loose womean were sitting at the bar all dressed out in her upper body paint. Obviously she demanded lots of attention and seemed to be enjoying it. While she wasn't the only woman in the bar, she was the only woman in the bar that had gone to the local paint shop for her body cover. Needless to say we all enjoyed the sights(two really big ones) and even though we didn't have a camera many were having their photos made with this popular woman. From this local establishment we traveled out 4 or 5 miles to the "Full Throttle" biker bar and hell raiser point of fun and relaxation. Please remember that this is what you do when you ride motorcycles, you ride to some place so you can turn around and ride back to where you came from. There is no purpose really of going where you are going or coming back from where you have been other than to just "ride baby ride." Upon entering the Full Throttle parking area it was apparent there had been an overflow of testosterone and it was hard to get the bikes parked and make our space. But, after getting this done I looked around and felt I was in a Mad Max movie. The bar is built in kind of an outdoor arena layout with the motorcycles parked in the middle. Then the bars, stage for the band, vendors, etc.,are in an elevated position,in a circle around the parked machines. With great rock music and cold brews it was a sight to behold. At one point we heard this loud roar of two motorcycles and the screeching of tires against the pavement, then yelling and clapping in approval of what was going on. After investigation what we found what is called the "burn out" area, for two motorcycles. What got our attention was when we heard the loud bang of a blowout on both the motorcyle rear tires, then everyone cheering! What kind of insanity was this, destroying your rear tires and then getting applauded for it? After asking one of the "event staff" what was going on, he said,"hey man this is Sturgis, anything goes!" He further stated that you could bring your motorcyle into this area, butt your front wheel up to the head wall, then spin out on the pavement to your hearts delight, and never get pulled over by the police or harassed in anyway. This was legal tender inside the confines of the "Full Throttle" and baby move over. I encouraged Steve to pull his new, black, machine into the pit and show us his stuff. He refused to do it on the grounds he didn't think destroying $180.00 tires was much sport. When challenged to do it I agreed with him. Now we got back on the machines and headed back, remember you go somewhere with little purpose, but you have to return, to Deadwood.
On day two, we decided to ride West to Hulett, WY(about 45 miles)and take in "No Panties Wednesday," and see just exactly what that meant. Now I realize that this is somewhat contridictory since I have said, more than once, that you ride with little purpose or reason other than to "just ride baby ride." But give me a break here, "No Panties Wednesday?" Who could resist this tempting sounding day of activity, with the men and women of steel? On the way we went through Beulah, WY population 50, then made a pit stop in Aladdin, WY, population 15(please understand I give these populations because I am a population inquisitive type person, I like to know the population of the towns or cities I go to. That is the first thing I ask someone when I travel to different places. I do not care about the elevation, which is now placed on many city limit signs, I want to know how many people live there). So, with that being said we now headed to Hulett, WY, population 400 normally but on this Wednesday it would swell to 30,000 with over a $1 million in economic impact. But, with the billing "No Panties Wednesday" why wouldn't it swell and be popular? What we found when we got there was lots of motorcyles already, lots of vendors selling T-Shirts and things, lots of greasy food, a band actually playing on a stage set up on the church front yard,(how bad could they be?) etc. But inquiring minds are now wondering, what about the "No Panties Wednesday?"(your could even buy bikini panties with "No Panties Wednesday" written on them(got mine on right now as I write). Well boy did they fool us! As far as we know everyone in town that day didn't have any panties on, since everyone we saw was wearing jeans and how could you really tell? No one was walking around like the painted ladies with painted panties on, or if they were we wouldn't know it because everyone we saw were fully dressed. So, the joke was on us, and after enjoying the sights of the town(the painted ladies did arrive on two Hogs before we left so that was interesting except we still didn't know if they had on panties or not)we mounted the ironhorses and left town, as the population started to really grow. It is possible that after it got dark around this sleepy little town town it because possible to know if Wednesday was really "No Panties Wednesday!!"
After nearly 3 days of this madness it is now time to ride and ride far, Steve departed back to the North country and I headed West, to Colorado. Now, it is just pure riding and no side tracks. I ended up in the Vail, CO area and spent some time there riding to and from nowhere. It was very beautiful riding and then on day 7 it was time to girt up and hit the road big time back to Ransom Canyon. The trip to Ransom from Vail is around 700 miles so I decided to make it in one day. I was tired of the hotels and needed to dust it out. Because of early morning rain I left about 9:30 a.m. Mountain time, headed to Denver, then Colorado Springs, then hit lots of rain in Walsburg, CO, that stayed with me for 300 miles. Finally when hitting Dumas, TX I could take my rain suit off. I pulled into the driveway at Ransom at 9:30 p.m. Central time and felt great. I accomplished what I wanted to do, ride somewhere for no real reason and turn around and come back, again just to "ride baby ride."
Is this nuts or what?
greer
posted by Fast Twitch Mind at 6:39 AM
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